Monday, December 31, 2007

Eugene Peterson has a very helpful book, seductively entitled, "Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. You can check it out on Google Books & Amazon. Vintage Peterson, it is chock full of great quotes, like this...

Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son [p. 18]

Do you have a plan to read and assimilate Scripture for the coming year? Whatever plan you have, whether focusing in on a few books and seeking to master them, or reading through the whole, commit yourself to seeking to know the glory of God in the face of Christ and assimilating this book. Check out these plans here and here and here.

Need some extra motivation? My son, Jason (8 years old), read through the NT in 2007 using the 5x5x5 reading plan. This is his advice:

"Make sure that you keep on schedule, and if they are any verses you like you should memorize them."

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

RUF/ SSA finished off the year by celebrating a Christmas dinner together. We ate chicken & rice & panatones, and we capped off the evening with a fun game nominating students for noticeable virtues. A fun time was had by all, and it was a great way to end the year. We took over 170 pics, but here is a little slide show of about 50 of them.

Special thanks to Gerardo & his wife, Isabel, and the leadership team of RUF for making this an enjoyable year.

"Tom Brady, the 3-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the New England Patriots was featured the week in a 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft on CBS. Brady is already a sports legend in one of the citadels of professional sports in America, Boston. His current team is 15-0 and is poised to finish the season undefeated, something that hasn't been done in the NFL in 35 years. He has won the Super Bowl MVP twice and been named to the Pro Bowl 4 times. He also was recently named the Associated Press' "Male Athlete of the Year."

"He has dated actresses and supermodels and makes millions of dollars a year. He has been called America's most eligible bachelor. By most popular standards, he has it all. That is why I was struck by hearing him make the following statement during the interview:

"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, 'God, it's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be."

"When Kroft asked him, "What's the answer?" Brady responded, "I wish I knew. I wish I knew. I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I'm trying to find."

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

This is the blog of John & Heather Ferguson keeping you up to date about life & ministry among the students & parish churches of Peru (& whatever else strikes our fancy). After spending seven years with RUF at Texas A&M University, the Ferguson's have moved to Peru to aid in the work of renewing northern Peru with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!